This Nation Needs Your Help!
The HR 3962 Healthcare Bill is slated to be voted on in the next 2 weeks. While healthcare reform is absolutely necessary at this time, this bill does not provide it in a sustainable form. This bill is also laden down with an abundance of problems, some of which are - eliminating regulation and controls on abortion, requiring that all private plans offer the exact same coverages as the 'public option' plan, giving incentives to states for decreasing frivolous medical lawsuits only if they do not regulate lawyer fees or place caps on lawsuit amounts. On top of all that, the bill is 1990 pages long, and written in a very complex format which makes its understanding almost impossible for the common citizen.
How you can help...
For this book to be a success we'll need lots of help... now! We can't wait on this... our representatives will be voting on this healthcare bill soon. In order of importance, here is what you can do to help:
- Click HERE to share your story so your concerns/solutions/ideals/etc can be highlighted in this book.
- Email this to five of your friends/relatives and let them know about this.
- Compile a list of congresspeople in your state who may be on the fence about this issue and post it in the forum HERE. Follow the same format as we've done HERE. If we can drum up enough stories from individuals in your state we'll compile a book and send it to your congresspeople as well.
- Participate in the forum HERE. Let us know what issues you see as harmful in this healthcare bill. Share your ideas about how you think we can improve our healthcare woes.
- Inform yourself. Read the HR 3962 Healthcare Bill yourself (at least the portions we've highlighted HERE).
- Volunteer to proofread submissions. We need the help of a few talented individuals to help proofread submissions and check them for gramatical errors.
- Read the book. The book will be online next week (in .pdf format - with personally identifiable information removed so story contributors can feel at peace that their personally identifiable information isn't being released on the web) and will be free for you to download and read.
- Share the book. In addition to you being able to email this book out in its .pdf format you'll also have the option to buy the book and share it with friends in hard copy.
- Visit our forum and tell us how we can improve the book, what title to use, what artwork to use, etc. Click HERE to go to the forum.
Why we're doing this...
HR 3962 was the final straw. My wife and I have been watching the news a lot lately and recently heard a congresswoman talking about the new HR 3962 healthcare bill our politicians are trying to pass. After we found the bill and started reading through it (in all its massive 1990 pages of glorious lawyer mumbo jumbo) we decided we needed to act. We've called and written to our representatives, we've told our friends and family about upcoming issues, and we've even gone on the campaign trail for politicians we've supported. And yet, we felt like our voices were still not being heard.
Just yesterday (Monday, November 2, 2009) we came up with the crazy idea that we'd fly to Washington DC and express our concerns with the undecided politicians concerning this healthcare bill. We decided we'd fly in on Wed, Nov 3rd and hit the capitol building hard. We'd meet with several of these fence-sitting politicians and discuss our concerns. Oh how quickly were our hopes/dreams of making a difference smashed. We called our local representative, Congressman Jim Matheson, and were politely told by one of his aides that to meet with him we'd have to jump through enough hoops to keep us busy till Christmas time. Of course he didn't put it that way, but coming away from the call it was obvious... we weren't going to get to meet with anyone unless we scheduled far far in advance. Problem is though, we need to express our concerns now! Congresswoman Pelosi is pushing hard on this bill, trying to rally together the votes so they can push this through quickly. Most of the media is estimating a vote in only 2 weeks!
So, since we've realized that the traditional means of communicating our concerns and ideas for a better America, we've put together this new program.
Since we'll not be flying into Washington DC this week we're going to donate the money we've saved to this cause. It's only a couple hundred dollars but it is enough to make our voices heard in a big way.
We are first reaching out to friends/family to spread the word through their neighborhoods. As they reach out we'll be extending this program to other states across the nation. We're putting together a full color, professionally bound, 200 page book highlighting stories of individuals and families living within Utah, particularly within Congressman Mathesons district. What we're doing is putting together a full color, professionally bound, 200 page book highlighting stories/concerns/ideals/suggestions of individuals and families living within Utah, particularly within Congressman Mathesons district. The book is going to have an attractive hardback cover, and the case wrap (image wrapping the hardbound book) will feature an attractive picture of Congressman Matheson himself. The goal of this book is to put together something so attractive/professional that his aids will quickly pass it along to him. From there it will be up to the stories you submit to pull at his heart strings and see how his constituants (you) want him to vote on the upcoming healthcare reform bills.
Please help us as we work to inform our representatives of how we believe. To make this book a reality we are going to need the stories of at least 200 individuals/families. And we need them now. We will be staying up late compiling this book over the next week and need to get it printed and mailed out (via express mail) next Monday.
Please help us by choosing three items off the list above.
Sincere thanks,
The Becks.